Fourth of July in Africa

I generally don’t consider myself very patriotic.  I often roll my eyes at all the patriotic t-shirts and “God bless America” bumper stickers (I’d much rather ask that God bless the World).  I cringe when people talk about how great America is (generally because I assume that they are ignorant about the rest of the world and about the negative things the US has done, and I assume that they look down on others for being inferior – in short, I [hypocritically] look down on them).  “Pooh-pooh”-ing American patriotism is in fact quite easy to do while I enjoy all of the freedoms and rights and access to power that being an American gives me.

BUT, all that to say, that I felt quite “proud to be an American” last night while watching fireworks and singing along to “Born in the USA” and “Surfing USA.”  =)  Basically, I love the fact that part of being an American involves watching large firework displays choreographed to music (yes, this part is very important) each 4th of July.  After living in Boston for 8 years, and watching the Boston Pops live in concert while surrounded by hundreds of others picnicing on the grass by the side of the Charles River, followed by the best fireworks displays I’ve ever seen (and I’m a fairly critical judge), nothing else can really compare.  But, small by comparison though it was, I found myself quite enjoying the American Independence Day festivities last night at the American Recreation Association in Kampala, Uganda.  I think it was mostly that it was something familiar from home.

Of course everyone in Uganda has to work on the 4th (well, unless you work at the US Embassy), so the celebration was held on Sunday the 3rd.  I went with my mom (who’s visiting for 2 weeks) and a friend and her son.  We sat on the grass and had hamburgers and hot dogs while watching various acts: the color guard, a speech from the US Ambassador, some American students talking and singing about American history, a Ugandan children’s choir/dance troupe, a Karate demonstration, adult Ugandan dancers, and some fairly talented gymnasts/jugglers.  It was funny to be surrounded by so many Americans (there were also many non-Americans there), since even when you find yourself in a mostly-White crowd here, many people are often European.  My mom had brought some s’mores fixings with her from the US, so we happily ate cold s’mores.  (On Saturday, we introduced our Ugandan staff to real s’mores at a 4th of July-themed potluck lunch.  They seemed to be quite entertained.)  The best part of the night, of course, was the fireworks.  I was actually quite impressed with the display.  Many of them were the small-town-looking (or expensive personal) fireworks, but some were actually the large, loud real deal, with gold sparkles and everything.  Well, as I said, I was quite impressed and had a great time.  What a nice surprise: 4th of July fireworks, even in Uganda!  Happy 4th everybody!